A sample of about 26,000 American adults were surveyed, and results show that they are having less sex than they did in the last two decades. Compared to the late 1990s, American adults who participated in the survey had sexual activity nine more times than the early 2010s. What's more, millennials are seen to be having much less sex compared to their grandparents when they were younger.
Why The Decline?
While the research did not delve further into the reasons for the decline in sexual frequency, the researchers did point out that while the frequency of sexual activity did not reduce for un-partnered individuals, the decline could partially be because of the higher percentage of the un-partnered individuals themselves. Furthering the decline is the lessening sexual frequency among married or co-habituating couples.
The decline in sexual frequency did not differ for different races, genders, region, educational level, or work status but were found to be largest among individuals over the age of 50 as well as those with school-age children and those who did not engage in watching pornography.
The Age Factor
Age, of course, was found to be a factor in the sexual frequency, as Americans in their 20s had sexual activity more frequently at an average of about 80 times per year compared to individuals in their 60s whose sexual activity averaged to about 20 times per year.
What's more, taking age and time into consideration, researchers found that individuals born in the 1990s, millennials and iGen, have sex the least often, while the Silent generation or those born in the 1930s had the highest sexual frequency in their youth, possibly due to having steady partners.
Generally speaking, researchers found that the decline in sexual frequency can be pointed to the increasing number of un-partnered individuals and even among those that are partnered.
Less Happiness Among Millennials?
Lead author of the study Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, co-authored a previous study that found a decline in happiness for adults over the age of 30 between the years of 2010 and 2014.
"With less sex and less happiness, it's no wonder that American adults seem deeply dissatisfied these days," said Twenge.
Are millennials less happy as well? Of course, millennials are among those who were born at the height of the social media culture, which has been seen to have adverse effects to an individual's well-being. What's more, it was recently found in an app study that millennials are likely to choose fame over love, possibly contributing to the increasing number of un-partnered individuals.
